Change Your Image
brenkdavis
Davis has been a producer on films premiering, competing, or winning at Sundance, Toronto, Berlin, and other festivals. In 2013 Davis produced the first Los Angeles-based season of Chinese TV hit "Jia Pian You Yue" for CCTV-6, featuring Stan Lee, Justin Lin, M. Night Shyamalan, Sean Astin, and others. He is a former Producing faculty member at the New York Film Academy in Los Angeles, served a year as Chairman of Adamas Film International in Beijing, and has guest lectured at the Beijing Film Academy. In 2018 he wrote and directed the documentary “Yibin: An Elemental Journey” for CCTV. In 2019 he and director Eric Raine completed a 5-year journey making feature documentary CRAZYHOT, about the world of ultra hot chile peppers, now available on VOD worldwide. Davis is currently in development on Paris-based feature film MY FAVORITE SEASON with filmmaker Larry Sullivan through their company International Troublemakers, and on New Zealand-based feature THE BISHOP’S MAN, adapted from the best-selling novel and to be directed by acclaimed filmmaker Babak Payami.
In addition to his film efforts, Davis co-created and hosted the "How China Works" podcast with Yingying Li. Davis has also made public and media appearances discussing the intersection of China and Hollywood and has been a frequent speaker and consultant regarding general East-West issues.
Davis’ 2019 public engagements included live “How China Works” events with Yingying Li in Beijing as well as at Stanford University, the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley, and at Onepiece Work in downtown San Francisco. He moderated a panel at the 2019 Horasis China Meeting in Las Vegas on “The Future of China’s Belt & Road Initiative” and was set to moderate a panel at the Horasis Global Meeting in Cascais, Portugal in 2020 on the topic of “Fulfillment” that was cancelled due to COVID-19. Before leaving China, he was a live-stream guest on China Plus America’s web TV channel as the subject of a 90-minute feature interview and was a guest host on China Radio International’s top program “Round Table”. On June 22, 2020, Davis moderated a live panel discussion at the virtual Horasis India Meeting on the topic of “India’s March Into Modernism”, with leading experts from India’s politics, economics, tech, women’s rights, and public health sectors.
In December 2019, Davis was recognized for his cross-cultural leadership in China by being appointed to serve as a Distinguished Special Foreign Expert with the Beijing Global Talent Exchange Association. His appointment as an advisor runs through 2024.
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
Epiphany (2002)
A very good, occasionally inspiring, and always beautiful piece of work!
I seem to be in the minority of those I've talked to about this, in that I felt like I 'got it' the first time I saw it. I've had the pleasure to view this short in both the 2002 Atlanta and Dances With Films festivals, and for my money, it is quite an accomplishment. On a technical level, it is really beyond criticism, obviously being the work of very experienced hands, particularly in its photography and production design. Where some people seem to have a problem with it is in the storytelling: I have heard it criticized as 1) confusing, 2) too 'deep', or 3) not as deep as it would like to think it is. True, there is little dialogue, and the story is mainly told with exquisitely crafted shots, each held long enough to impress upon you that they surely must be wrought with meaning. The thing is, they ARE. Basically, 'Epiphany' leaves it up to the viewer to connect the dots, and to me, they all connect. This is not really a narrative piece; I actually think of it as more of a tone poem. It is very impressionisticly subjective in it's storytelling methodology, and for me, that is the yardstick by which we should truly measure art. 'Epiphany' may not be perfect (and it isn't), but in a word, it IS art. (I have no idea why the line breaks appeared here, but I can't get rid of them. Oh, well.)
Southern Heart (1999)
I'm biased, but...
this shoot was one of the most enjoyable of my life! Jamie and Emily were so warm and pleasant to be around that it spoiled me against doing big pictures... ANYWAY, the finished product is a good movie, one that I am proud to be associated with. The impact that the town of Mentone had on me is even more lasting and profound, though: it is something of a personal touchstone for purity and beauty. A picture of the Brow (see the film!) is on my desk as I type this. The majesty of this place was well-captured, and the experience of seeing it on a big screen can only hint at it's power in person...
Track down the movie and see what I mean.